Problem: If the sales tax in your city is $5.4\%$, how much tax would you pay for an item that costs $\$64$ before tax? Round to the nearest cent.
In order to find the amount of sales tax you would pay, multiply the sales tax by the original price of the item. ${5.4\%} \times {\$64} =$ Percent means "out of one hundred," so $5.4\%$ is equivalent to $5.4 \div 100$ $5.4 \div 100 = 0.054$ Multiply the sales tax you just converted into a decimal by the original price to find the amount of sales tax that must be paid. Round to the nearest cent. $0.054$ $\times$ $$64$ = $$3.46$ You would pay $$3.46$ in sales tax.